Tag: lost

Toys R Us’ status as the most important toy store in town left it cavalier, if cocky at times, according to conversations with former employees, executives and industry insiders, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity. The story begins with Lazarus, the store’s visionary who wanted the “R” written backward — an ode to childlike scrawl. Lazarus, who has been described as one of the great merchants of his time, expanded a baby furniture store he owned into a toy store. In its heyday in th

The toy emporium that Charles P. Lazarus envisioned has been reduced to dusty floors and empty shelves.

Much has been said about the demise of the toy empire, which this week announced its plan to liquidate. There have been fingers pointed at corporate raiders, Amazon and big-box stores. All contributed to its undoing.

Ultimately, though, Toys R Us’ collapse is a story of loyalty run dry. The store in its early days fostered devotion from customers and toymakers. In the end, it lost hold on both.

Toys R Us’ status as the most important toy store in town left it cavalier, if cocky at times, according to conversations with former employees, executives and industry insiders, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity. It didn’t invest in its stores, even as it was adding to the fleet, leaving it vulnerable when new competition moved in.

The story begins with Lazarus, the store’s visionary who wanted the “R” written backward — an ode to childlike scrawl. Lazarus, who has been described as one of the great merchants of his time, expanded a baby furniture store he owned into a toy store. By 1978, he had created a toy superstore large enough to become a public company.

In its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most important toy store in the country, if not the world. Its strength grew as competitors Kiddie City and Child World went out of business.

New England and 41-year-old quarterback Tom Brady will be going to their third consecutive Super Bowl after they beat the Kansas City Chiefs 37-31 in overtime on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Rams standing between the Patriots and a sixth NFL title. The Rams secured their berth in the Super Bowl after a controversial 26-23 overtime win over the New Orleans Saints in the National Football Conference title game. The teams will meet in the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia on February 3. American Footb

New England and 41-year-old quarterback Tom Brady will be going to their third consecutive Super Bowl after they beat the Kansas City Chiefs 37-31 in overtime on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Rams standing between the Patriots and a sixth NFL title.

The Rams secured their berth in the Super Bowl after a controversial 26-23 overtime win over the New Orleans Saints in the National Football Conference title game.

The teams will meet in the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia on February 3.

American Football Conference champions New England beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime in the 2017 Super Bowl and lost 41-33 to the Philadelphia Eagles a year ago.

Their 11 Super Bowl appearances are the most ever.

The Rams have played in three previous Super Bowls, beating the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in Atlanta in 2000 when they were based in St Louis. They last appeared in the title game in 2002 when they lost to the Patriots 20-17.

China’s Xiaomi, once dubbed the “Apple of China,” is in the middle of a months-long rout and facing familiar headwinds in the global smartphone market. The stock has shed 25 percent this year, plummeting to all-time lows and trading below 10 Hong Kong dollars. The company’s market cap now hovers around HK$240 billion ($30 billion). Xiaomi, founded in 2010 in Beijing, rose to impressive market share among global competitors such as Huawei, Samsung and Apple. The company went public on Hong Kong e

Xiaomi, founded in 2010 in Beijing, rose to impressive market share among global competitors such as Huawei, Samsung and Apple. It markets high-quality devices at comparatively lower prices and has more recently diversified its business to include other connected devices and services revenue.

The company went public on Hong Kong exchanges in July at an implied valuation of US$54 billion, but now trades more than 50 percent below all-time highs. The stock has posted only one month of gains since debuting.

“We do not see this as necessarily the bottom,” Gibbs said on CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. Stacey Gilbert, market strategist at Susquehanna, says her firm also has a negative view on the social network. “Our internet analyst Shyam Patel had a great call on this,” Gilbert said on “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. Options activity suggest Gibbs and Gilbert are not alone in their doubts over Snap’s future performance. Snap is one of the most heavily shorted stocks on Wall Street with short in

“We do not see this as necessarily the bottom,” Gibbs said on CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. “The fact that your CFO is walking away from 80 percent of the stock that he got as a signing bonus is a clear indication of how he thinks the company is going to go.”

That’s not all that has Gibbs worried about Snapchat’s parent company.

“The earnings estimates are actually going even lower in the past month and they weren’t that stellar to begin with,” she said.

Snap is expected to post a net loss of 19 cents a share when it reports earnings on Feb. 5, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet. In the same quarter a year earlier, it had reported a net loss of 28 cents a share.

“Certainly the stock could go farther down, and I wouldn’t say that this is the point to get in,” added Gibbs.

Stacey Gilbert, market strategist at Susquehanna, says her firm also has a negative view on the social network.

“Our internet analyst Shyam Patel had a great call on this,” Gilbert said on “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. “His concerns … continue to be that ad buyers are not seeing the return on investments that other platforms like Facebook and Instagram are doing and users are fleeing.”

Options activity suggest Gibbs and Gilbert are not alone in their doubts over Snap’s future performance.

“The flow we’re seeing is really more consistent with those that are protecting short positions, not any one positioning for longer-term growth here,” said Gilbert. “This is a negative. We’re avoiding it.”

Snap is one of the most heavily shorted stocks on Wall Street with short interest at 23.7 percent of its float.

The stock, which has lost more than 67 percent over the past year, was recently trading below the $1 mark. It first breached $1 on Dec. 26, as investors worried holiday sales would be poor at the department store chain. Although the retail industry is on track to have its best holiday shopping season in six years, not all stores are benefiting from the freer spending. When retailer have a backlog of unsold merchandise they tend to slash prices to clear shelves. “Stores, for example, were densely

J.C. Penney shares closed Tuesday at $1.21. The stock, which has lost more than 67 percent over the past year, was recently trading below the $1 mark.

It first breached $1 on Dec. 26, as investors worried holiday sales would be poor at the department store chain. Although the retail industry is on track to have its best holiday shopping season in six years, not all stores are benefiting from the freer spending.

Penney has been struggling to turn its business around. It lost its CEO Marvin Ellison to Lowe’s in July. In October, the company tapped former Joann Stores chief, Jill Soltau, for the top job.

Penney’s has been hurt by a pile-up of unsold inventory, which has put pressure on its profits. When retailer have a backlog of unsold merchandise they tend to slash prices to clear shelves. Other retailers, including Macy’s and Kohl’s, made improvements in managing their merchandise last year and are expected to head into 2019 on good footing.

The company also has struggled to sell trend-right apparel, at a time when the apparel industry as a whole is going through somewhat of a renaissance with clothing sales climbing again.

“In our view, JCPenney went into the festive season in a weakened state and, therefore, was not able to capitalize on the favorable trends,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, in an email. “Stores, for example, were densely packed full of merchandise and provided consumers with a less than inspiring shopping experience. The same is true online where a vast array of products with few standout items reduced conversion rates. Extensive discounting did little to remedy these weaknesses or stimulate revenue growth.”

During World War II the rate on T-Bills was kept at 0.375 percent and long bonds were set at 2.5 percent. The Fed Chairman Marriner Eccles wanted to let rates float; President Truman did not. Ultimately, Truman lost and an accord was reached between the Fed and the Treasury Department to let rates float. Stepping aside from the heat of that battle one might argue that Truman lost because he was fighting against economic and financial determinants. Moreover, Truman inherited President Roosevelt’s

During World War II the rate on T-Bills was kept at 0.375 percent and long bonds were set at 2.5 percent. In 1948, inflation began to climb. From June 1947 to June 1948, it was 17.6 percent. By February 1953, it was at the annualized rate of 21.0 percent. The Fed Chairman Marriner Eccles wanted to let rates float; President Truman did not. Truman believed:

That those Americans who bought savings bonds to fund the American war effort were being made to lose money on these bonds; and

That the economic stimulus created by the war effort was being eliminated, possibly returning the economy to the Depression.

The fight between the two men was waged in the media. Truman used the new invention, the television, to get his ideas across. Eccles leaked internal documents to the NY Times. Ultimately, Truman lost and an accord was reached between the Fed and the Treasury Department to let rates float.

Stepping aside from the heat of that battle one might argue that Truman lost because he was fighting against economic and financial determinants. Rates needed to rise and the economy was able to move forward despite recessions in 1953 and 1957. Moreover, Truman inherited President Roosevelt’s appointments to the Fed. Eccles was appointed in 1934. Truman did not have support on the Fed’s Board.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a decline of 367 points at the index’s Thursday open, as of 6:28 a.m. Nasdaq-100 futures lost 2.67 percent. The Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the tech heavy Nasdaq-100 Index, lost more than 2 percent in premarket trading. Chip stocks Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, Skyworks and Qorvo all dropped in premarket trading on the Apple warning. Skyworks lost more than 5 percent.

It’s going to be a tough day for technology stocks on Thursday after Apple warned first-quarter sales would be less than it previously expected. The broader stock market will suffer too as the iPhone maker blamed a slowing Chinese economy for the shortfall.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a decline of 367 points at the index’s Thursday open, as of 6:28 a.m. ET Thursday. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures were off by more than 1.6 percent. Nasdaq-100 futures lost 2.67 percent. Apple’s stock was down more than 8 percent in premarket trading. The Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the tech heavy Nasdaq-100 Index, lost more than 2 percent in premarket trading.

Apple said it sees first-quarter revenue of $84 billion vs. a previous guidance of a range of $89 billion and $93 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $91.3 billion for the period, according to the consensus estimate from FactSet. Apple blamed most of the revenue shortfall for struggling business in China. But the company also said that upgrades by customers in other countries were “not as strong as we thought they would be.”

Chip stocks Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, Skyworks and Qorvo all dropped in premarket trading on the Apple warning. Skyworks lost more than 5 percent.

In only three months, Apple has lost $452 billion in market capitalization, including tens of billions on Thursday as the tech giant’s stock sank further. Apple shares have fallen by 39.1 percent since Oct. 3, when the stock hit a 52-week high of $233.47 a share. With its market cap down to about $674 billion, those losses are larger than individual value of 496 members of the S&P 500 — including Facebook and J.P. Morgan. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Berkshire Hathaway are the only S&P 500 me

In only three months, Apple has lost $452 billion in market capitalization, including tens of billions on Thursday as the tech giant’s stock sank further.

Apple shares have fallen by 39.1 percent since Oct. 3, when the stock hit a 52-week high of $233.47 a share. With its market cap down to about $674 billion, those losses are larger than individual value of 496 members of the S&P 500 — including Facebook and J.P. Morgan.

Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Berkshire Hathaway are the only S&P 500 members with larger market caps than Apple’s loss since its recent high.

To put the Apple market value plunge in context, $446 billion is:

more than double the size of Wells Fargo

more than three times the size of McDonald’s

more than five times the size of Costco

more than 10 times the size of Raytheon

Apple gave a sudden warning to investors on Wednesday afternoon, lowering its fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance. Wall Street reacted, with one analyst saying this will represent Apple’s “biggest miss in years” and another saying the company’s announcement “raises more questions than answers.” Apple CEO Tim Cook’s letter to investors blamed a variety of factors for the guidance cut, including declining iPhone revenue and China’s weakening economy.

The German DAX has had its worst year in a decade amid persistent market volatility across the globe. The index is also on pace for its worst year since 2008 when it lost more than 40 percent. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, told CNBC via email on Monday that the underperformance of the DAX has nothing to do with the German economy. “Second, the peculiarities of the German banking sector with its myriad of non-listed public and semi-public banks and the weaker listed banks shows

The German DAX has had its worst year in a decade amid persistent market volatility across the globe. The stock index is down more than 18 percent since the start of the year, after it briefly fell into bear market territory earlier this month.

A bear market is when stocks see a 20 percent decline or more from a recent high — but they’re also marked by overall pessimism.

According to Reuters data, the DAX is down 14 percent in the final quarter of this year and is on pace for its worst such period since the third quarter of 2011 when it lost more than 25 percent. The index is also on pace for its worst year since 2008 when it lost more than 40 percent.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, told CNBC via email on Monday that the underperformance of the DAX has nothing to do with the German economy.

“It can largely be explained by three factors: Most importantly, German companies are very outward looking. As exporters of mostly highly cyclical goods such as cars and machine tools, they react more strongly to a loss of momentum in the global economic cycle,” Schmieding said.

“Second, the peculiarities of the German banking sector with its myriad of non-listed public and semi-public banks and the weaker listed banks shows up in the DAX. Third, the German car sector is facing specific issues mostly related to tougher environmental standards and a belated shift to e-mobility.”

“Halftime Report” contributor and HPM Partners’ Jim Lebenthal believes the stock is poised to outperform in 2019 because the market is already so negative on the name, and because a strong economy should bolster sales. “The company continues to outperform,” he said on Tuesday’s “Halftime Report.” The company’s quarterly results were helped by improved RV sales in North America, as well as contributions from its new marine division. The company currently trades at 6X forward earnings, which Leben

“Halftime Report” contributor and HPM Partners’ Jim Lebenthal believes the stock is poised to outperform in 2019 because the market is already so negative on the name, and because a strong economy should bolster sales.

“The company continues to outperform,” he said on Tuesday’s “Halftime Report.” “Every single quarter for the last year they’ve blown away estimates.”

Winnebago reported Q1 earnings on December 19, topping analyst estimates for both EPS and revenue. The company’s quarterly results were helped by improved RV sales in North America, as well as contributions from its new marine division.

Lebenthal also likes Winnebago on a valuation basis.

The company currently trades at 6X forward earnings, which Lebenthal believes is too cheap based on its growth prospects.

“I don’t think we’re going to get a recession, which this thing is priced for. Any valuation you look at it’s ridiculously cheap. The sentiment has been terrible, but I think in the last month it has turned,” he said.